Deep Sea
by Femgie
Summary: A diver goes on to discover the depths of the sea, but he encounters with unexpected inhabitants.


Light fell on the lonely boat in the middle of the ocean before a jealous cloud spilled over the moon, temporarily hiding her from the gaze of the boat's inhabitants. As much as the boat had enough lamps scattered around to provide light, he loved the eerie, cold light projected by the moon more. The man sighed, gazing at the vast body of water that looked more like tar. He didn't mind that, however; he knew that under that horrifying surface lay a rare macrocosm not everyone got the chance of seeing.

As he checked his suit and equipment to avoid any last-minute issues, his friend rushed with her usual nonchalance and dropped next to him, a tiny arrogant grin gracing her face. How different they were from each other; he was calm while she was fiery, he always made plans and calculations beforehand while she acted without much thought. And now she was sitting next to him with a speargun on her lap.

"I thought we were going for a calm, relaxing swim to observe the wonders down there." he said with a worried smile and pointed at the vicious weapon. She gave a hearty laugh that boomed in the silence, brushing his hand off. As she looked at him with playful eyes, he could tell she was excited about diving all the way down. "You can never know what you'll encounter down there." Her teeth glowed in the semi-darkness as she grinned, his face, on the contrary, was solemn and thoughtful. He sighed once more, having decided not to say anything; not that he could change her mind.

"We ready?" asked one of the people on the boat. He put his mask and regulator on while she gave an impatient thumbs up. He knew what she'd say if she could talk at the moment, _I was born ready!_

He looked at the bright moon once more and thought about the darkness that surrounded them; not that whether it was day or night would matter in the depths of the ocean. She graciously hopped into water, vibes of her excitement reaching even to him. He prayed for everything to go well and let himself unite with water; worries, curiosity, plans- then silence of the ocean, or rather, that peculiar sound of the underwater that always felt like a special song to him.

She took the lead with giant speargun in hand, looking like a dangerous predator that would make even the strongest creature in the ocean cower with fear. He only had his camera to take what he hoped for to be some stunning photos of school of fish or scenery.

They slowly swam deeper, she like a big, dangerous fish and he like a timid, observant scientist, both of them careful about their speed and equipment.

After a while, he stopped to take a photo of a turtle hiding behind some moss-covered rock when she took notice of something. She nudged him rather fast and hard, causing him to shake the camera and ruin a possibly good shot of the ancient animal. He turned to her, releasing bubbles rather angrily and waved his hands to inquire why she wanted to communicate so urgently. She ignored his attitude and pointed to some place further away; he squinted, trying to figure out what was there. Something went past them but the duo paid no mind, gaping at the unexpected wreck that lay in front of them.

She darted at the wreck without much thought, slowing down only for a moment to turn to him and beckon him to follow her. He rolled his eyes and swam after her, forgetting the turtle he was so interested a minute ago.

She swam around what seemed like a part of some plane wreck with ease, observing it with interest. He was cautious, he didn't expect to find such a thing down here. Something swam past them again, this time moving a huge body of water around. Fish rushed around in alarm. He looked around while she continued to examine the ancient corpse.

More than one thing swam past them this time, he could swear he saw a huge tail of... he didn't want to think what it could belong to. He flailed his hands at his companion as frantically as one could underwater, finally getting her attention. She looked at him in an annoyed manner and was about to complain when something swam at her at full speed and grabbed her, catching her off guard. He looked at her assailant in horror, dumbfounded by the weird look of the creature when something suddenly grabbed his arms. He tried to get himself free of the hands grabbing onto him- wait, hands? He looked around to see his captor- and almost forgot how to breathe.

He wanted to call them mermaids and mermen, but they looked nothing like the innocent, cute creatures he was so used to see being depicted. A woman with short black hair, strong arms and a long, gray tail was on his right; grinning a mouthful of sharp, white teeth. On his left was a man with dark ginger hair who looked as stunning as the woman with his brown tail and olive chest.

They tensed along with him as the trio's attention turned to the man's companion, who was brawling with yet another man; this one with sandy hair and a long, golden tail. The mermaid (she looked more like a humanoid shark, in his opinion) yelled something at the blond merman, her voice echoing like a whale song with words, her grin getting bigger. The merman next to him laughed- or he reckoned it was a laugh, while the blond one turned to face them, one hand on the female diver's throat; easily holding her off while flashing his friends a hearty grin of his own.

He saw what the merman (and obviously, his friends) didn't, and his eyes wide as saucers, held out a hand to the merman; releasing a good deal of bubbles around him in the process. His captors, annoyed by his movement and the hundreds of tiny bubbles obstructing their view, held him down aggressively; the blond merman looked at him with surprise for a moment before the female diver's speargun pierced his shoulder.

He questioned his action for a moment, why did he try to warn the merman? _She_ was his partner, not these creepy sea creatures. Then again, she should have known angering a member of a large group that was made of powerful enemies was the worst she could do at that moment.

As the blond merman's face contorted in pain, more mermaids and merman came out of nowhere in a flash; their aggressive expressions betraying their beautiful bare arms, chests and gorgeous, colorful tails.

The diver's shaky, timid flashlight shone bright upon the dark massacre that ended as quickly as it started. He wanted to close his eyes, to turn away and not to see how these creatures tore her limb by limb like an army of hungry piranhas; but he kept floating like some dead weight, his eyes on her convulsing body and full of fear. One mermaid tore her regulator away from her mouth, he realized she was still alive.

She let out blood-filled bubbles, he could almost hear her screams the ocean hushed. Blood spread, mixing with the blond merman's; several mermaids and mermen swam next to him, tending to his wound in a soft and caring manner that didn't match the ferocity witnessed only moments ago.

A mermaid swam towards him aggressively, despite the fear he was soaked in, all he could think was how she reminded him of a sea lioness. With her long, curly dark hair and ferocious black eyes, she was beautiful. She was much shorter and larger than the rest, with an attitude that matched her strong figure- he reckoned she was the leader of this small yet deadly group

. She grabbed his chin, moving his head from left to right, observing him with a face full of hatred. The diver grimaced, it hurt. A lot. But he didn't budge, he could have a chance of survival if he kept calm.

Then again, he probably was going to get killed considering how she grabbed his regulator.

He flinched and shut his eyes involuntarily, but the regulator didn't get ripped away from his mouth. He opened one uncertain eye to see the blond merman's hand on her shoulder. They talked with the words of their whale song; the diver could see the merman pointing at his shoulder, than at him. The sea lioness didn't seem too happy, but with one word from her, he was free of the hands confining him. He stayed where he was.

The mermaid pointed at him, then at somewhere behind him; he turned to find the vast darkness of the ocean. As he turned back to the mermaid, quite clueless, he saw her pointing up, then show her teeth in an aggressive manner. Her strong, long nailed fingers flexed as she brought her hands near his throat. _Try to run and you die. _Where were they taking him though? He had just seen his companion getting torn into pieces, these creatures could just eat him up in a flash as well. He breathed out and tried to think as the creatures started to swim, the shark-like mermaid taking his left arm. He didn't really have a choice. He took the hint and started swimming along, his artificial fins working along with their colorful ones. The blond merman swam on his right, a grin on his face that showed his sharp teeth- apparently everyone here liked to show off with the sense of danger they bore.

As they swam to the destination unknown to the diver, more and more mermen and mermaids joined them. He could even see a bunch of children; he let out a good deal of air bubbles while trying not to laugh at this interesting and surprising show. There were mermaids and mermen who had tails like those of the seahorses, others with tails long and slippery like an eel's; there were those who had many shiny fins around their bodies, also those with stripes or with specks. He got lost in the beauty of the wildness and diversity of these creatures for a moment, forgetting about the terrifying bloodshed that happened moments ago, slowing down as he tried to take in all of this.

His attention was brought back to the route they were on by a tug of the arm, the shark-like mermaid let out a laugh. He turned his head carefully, unsure about what to expect as to what lay in front of them- and stopped dead in his track.

He was certain that no underwater utopia could look as perfect, grand and stunning as the one his eyes were feasting upon.


End file.
